The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-03-07

a STRANDED GOLD RUG.
One Part OF America Wlere Gold Coin Do,
! y ---- ! MI Linz Eusaau ---- L

Ono Part OF America Where Gold Coin Docs
Not Pass Current.
Ntib lori COMMERCIAL Aaptrtier.
Writing from P!acquemiuo, La., n cor.
respondent acnds this: l fluid myself this
morning in q ovelpredicamcnt, nmusing,
II ono 10 philosophical enough to look at
the amuaing aide Of it, but at the same
time very annoying. We are brought to
q halt here by a railroad wreck, and are
likely to DO detained here for at least a
day. ] have my family with mo- and
naturally there arc .expenses 10 pay. I
have IN my pocket a number Of coins
made Of gold and bearing the atamp Of tho
United States Government, in certiication
Of their weight and dneneeg. These coins
are American IS, $40 and $50 gold pieces,
ind II were Ia England, or Germany, or
Russia, or India, or anywhere else in the
world except right here in placquemine,
La, I should find my money readily cur.
rent at it's nominal and actual value, be.
cause the two are everywhere known to
be identical.
But here in P%lacquemine, Louisiana, a
a little town whoae people are direct de.
%acendants Of Longfellow's AcGdians, nv
American gold is %uncusrent money! I
lirst encountered this state OF things lsst
night whom I offered gold to tho porter on
the Pullman car in payment for my
bcsth1., That worthy politely refused on
tho grounds that that kind o. money
amt good ont here, sah." 1 remonstrat.
cd with him. and told him that American
gold was worth it's face everywhere, be-
GAUGE tue gold 10 it, merely as gold, is
worth the amount Of very nearly tho fscs
value Of The piece. He was deaf TO arya.
ments OF that kind, and SO l expoupded
the law to him, and quoted the provision
making the gDld coin OF tho United
States legal tender in payment OF all debts.
1t was equally useless. The porter knew
nothing about legal tender lava or stand
ards OF value, or anything Of the kind: he
only knew, or though! he knew, that gold
coino were bad ard %uucurrent money in
this quarter Of the country, and he would
have none OF them. l managed to ecrape
together enough silver, eked out with
niekels, to pay for the berthe, and decided
in my own mind thatths porter must have
got hold OF a counterfeit gold coin, aud
finding it bad, must have concluded that
Nil gold WAS bad money.
This morning l have learned better.
Finding ourselves stopped here, I ordered
breakfast from tho buffet, and after eating
set out to get some OF my gold changed
into bills or silver ut the shops OF tho
town. Alas! the shopkeepels Of the place,
oven including the saloon men, were like
minded with the porter. One and sill were
persuaded that gold was not good money,
and with one mind they refused to take It.
| offered to "treat all round" at q saloon /!
the ~bar-kseper would take q S. gold.piece
in payment and give mo change, but he
declined. | asked If the genuineness of my
gold wac doubted. thinking that might be
the trouble, but I WAS assured that all
gold wss refused in the town, and ono
map, a merchant, told INC he believed
there had been Some Government action
on the subject which made gold no
longer of any account" Finally, one
man came to my reacue and gave
me silver in return for o S. gold piece,
saying that the gold might perhaps "go
Tor something in New! Orleans" He did
it very much as he might have given S. to
a human being in distress, aud | could see
that he.hGd very little hope OF ever getting
anything out Of the bright new gold piece
which l had drawn 6 few daya before
from tho London and San Francisco bank
in full faith that the gold coins OF my
country were the best and surest repre-.
sentatives Of value anywhere to be found.
I em still without any explanation OF
the phenomenon, but it is o fact worth re-
cording that American gold coin Is not
currentmouey in Placqusmine, Louisiana.
l wonderi il Confederate notes, or continent
tal currency, or the bills Of tho Indiana
wildcat banks OF 1857 would please these
people better. @